A family in spiritual warfare

A family in spiritual warfare

 

 

 

 

“so David inquired of God: ‘Shall I go and attack the Philistines?  Will you hand them over to me?’  The LORD answered him, ‘Go, I will hand them over to you.’” (1 Chronicles 14:10)

 

 

 

               When we think of "family," we tend to dream of a happy family.  The husband loves his wife, the wife respects and submits to her husband, the children honor and obey their parents in the Lord, and the parents raise their children with the Lord’s teaching and discipline, not provoking them to anger.  A truly happy family is one that obeys God’s word.  But what does our family look like right now?  Our families are not obeying God’s word.  Husbands do not love their wives, wives disrespect their husbands, children are ungrateful and disobedient to their parents, and parents provoke their children to anger.  Currently, the husbands and fathers of our families are disobeying God’s word and are not raising their wives and children according to His teachings.  As a result, we are not experiencing the happiness that God desires to give us within our families.  We are refusing the blessing of forgiveness, which God gives us as a gift of grace through Jesus Christ, because we do not forgive each other.  Our families are losing in this spiritual warfare.  As a result, the people of the world view our Christian families with contempt.  What should we do?  We must engage in spiritual warfare.  Therefore, today, I want to reflect on how our Christian families should approach spiritual warfare, based on the passage from 1 Chronicles 14:8-17.  I hope and pray that our families will be victorious in spiritual warfare and be built as the Lord-centered families that cause the world to fear the Lord.

 

First, our families must "oppose" our enemies.

 

Look at 1 Chronicles 14:8: "When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over all Israel, they went up to search for him, but David heard about it and went out to meet them."  The news that David had been anointed king of Israel was a joyful one for all the people of Judah who followed him, but it was certainly not good news for the Philistines.  So, the Philistines went up to search for David (v. 8) and had already gathered in the Valley of Rephaim (v. 9).  Upon hearing this news, David went out to oppose them (v. 8).

We too must go out to oppose Satan and his servants.  They do not like the blessings that God is bestowing upon our families.  Therefore, every time God blesses our families with His grace, they attack us.  We must be prepared for their attacks.  And when they come, we must resist them.  Especially, Satan is attacking the members of our families, making them spiritually weak and leading them to disobey God's word.  He causes husbands to hate their wives, wives to disrespect their husbands, children to rebel against their parents, and parents to provoke their children to anger.  As a result, Satan is causing Christian families to sin against God.  Yet, right now, we are continuing to lose to these attacks from Satan, in an unprotected state.  We must be prepared and resist his attacks.  To do so, we must develop the ability to resist Satan's attacks.  We need to feed on and practice God's word, which is the sword of the Spirit, in order to build up our spiritual immunity.  And we must sharpen the sword of the Spirit.  Only then, when Satan attacks, can we resist him with God's word, just as Jesus did.

 

                Second, our families must ask our God.

 

Look at 1 Chronicles 14:10a, 14a: "David inquired of God, saying, 'Shall I go up against the Philistines?  Will you deliver them into my hand?' ... David again inquired of God ...."  David asked God twice, each time when the Philistines invaded, whether he should go up against them and if God would deliver them into his hands.  Isn't that interesting?  Saul did not inquire of the Lord, and because of that, the Lord had him killed (10:14).  However, David, unlike Saul, inquired of God and kept asking. God responded to David's inquiries: "Go up, for I will deliver them into your hand" (v. 10), and "Do not go up directly, but circle around them and come upon them opposite the mulberry trees.  And when you hear a sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, then go out to battle, for God has gone out before you to strike the army of the Philistines" (vv. 14-15).  The common point in these two answers is that God promised David victory.  The difference lies in the strategies God gave David for the battles.  In the first battle, God simply told David, "Go up" (v. 10), but in the second battle, God instructed David to "not go up directly but to circle around them" (v. 14).  Isn't it fascinating that God gave David a different strategy for each battle?  Especially in the second battle, God told David, "When you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, then go out to fight" (v. 15).  Could it be the sound of angels' footsteps?  The important point is that "God will go out before you to strike the Philistine army" (v. 15).  This was not just David's battle against the Philistines, but God's battle.  And because God was fighting the battle, victory was certain. Ultimately, the Philistines burned their idols that they had abandoned at Baal-perazim (v. 11), meaning that the God of David, the God of Israel, as the true God, triumphed over the false gods of the Philistines.

 

We, like David, must inquire of God.  Especially in spiritual warfare with Satan, we need to develop the habit of asking God not only in times of great crisis but also in the small matters of life.  When we do so, the Holy Spirit who dwells within us will give us assurance of victory through the truth of His Word.  In fact, the Holy Spirit has already given us the assurance of victory.  Look at 1 Corinthians 10:13: "No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it."  We must approach spiritual warfare with this assurance of victory that God has given us.

 

Third and last, our families must obey God's commands.

 

Look at 1 Chronicles 14:11, 16: "So they went up to Baal-perazim, and David struck them there.  And David said, 'God has broken through my enemies by my hand, like a breakthrough of water.'  Therefore, they called the name of that place Baal-perazim  ...  So David did as God commanded him, and they struck down the Philistine army from Gibeon as far as Gezer."  After David inquired of God, he received God's answer and obeyed. He took his men to Baal-perazim (v. 11), and he "acted according to God's command" and struck the Philistine army (v. 16).  When David obeyed God's command, "God scattered my enemies by my hand, like the breaking of water" (v. 11), and also "God went before you to strike the Philistine army" (v. 15).  God struck the Philistine army "from Gibeon to Gezer" (v. 16).  Just as God had promised, He gave David victory.

 

                 The spiritual battle in our families can only be won by God.  When God intervenes and shows Himself as the true God by opposing our enemies, He can remove all idols and sins from our families.  What we can do is prepare diligently for spiritual warfare, seek God in prayer, inquire of Him, and obey His commands with faith.  When we do so, God will grant victory to our families in the spiritual battle.  Victory!

 

 

 

 

 

 

As we prepare to be a family that fights the battle, I pray that our families will become victorious,

 

 

 

 

James Kim

(May 12, 2011, Victory Church, Victory Families!)